Tuesday, 31 December 2013

AND SO THAT WAS CHRISTMAS!I seem to have been away for longer than I thought.Christmas has been and gone.2013 has almost been and gone too.I was going to do a review of the year, highs and lows that sort of thing.But then I realised it would all be about unpacking boxes and living in chaos.Starting your life up over again in a new setting is a lot more exhausting than I ever thought it would be. The year threw some curved balls at us too, horrible, shocking nastys, though we have ended the year welcoming a miraculous, marvel in to our inner circle, one who could possibly make up for all the head and heart aches this year turned up.So I thought I would share the joy of a family Christmassy adventure on Eastbourne beach.In between the storms and lashing rain there have been some beautiful sunny days.

Have a wonderful New Years Eve people and may 2014 be full of sunshine, beauty, smiles, laughter.Love Nora

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

SECRET SANTAEvery year at college our technician Ralph organises a hand made Secret Santa for us tutors and the students.This year we have a number of set design students studying with us.Now the costume students are fab, they are easy. I know what to make them, pin cushions, needle cases, anything sewing related. But a set designer?Especially one who is very allergic to sewing.I had to scour the very wooly edges of my creative brain.In the end I made a list of some of the things a set designer would use, scale ruler and scalpel were the only ones that interested me.

I ruled out the scale ruler as being too much of a fiddle.So we were left with a covered note/sketch book with a machine embroidered scalpel.The students excelled them selves this year decorating the studio.

Monday, 16 December 2013

SO MANY POSTS SO LITTLE INCLINATION.

OR AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.I have so much to tell you about, I've done so much and exciting things have happened recently, however it would appear my old friends procrastination and inertia have snuck in with out me noticing,I've got a couple of really complicated posts rattling about in my head but somehow I just don't seem to be able to order my thoughts and or photos.Oh well, it's nearly Christmas and more or less every thing is going to start to slip soon.I never post about food. I'm not one of those bloggers who post recipes and beautiful pictures of perfect food.Do you know why?Well, I'll tell you.I can't cook. Not at all. The kids groan and the Hippy gets a haunted look in his eye if it is ever mooted that I cook dinner. I can just about make a sandwich but that is it.But like all good and bad cooks I have a few signature dishes.And trust me when I say I do them really really well.I think I was once quite a good cook but 16 years of living with an excellent cook scuppered that.So tonight I am going to tell you about one of the few things I know I can do.Admittedly it involves no cooking, but y'know who really cares?It makes a great present.

Nigel Slater's marinaded olives.The recipe in his "Real food" book is for a modest 250 g of olives. I buy HUGE catering tins which involves a massive scaling up of ingredients.Tonight I crushed 32 cloves of garlic!I love it you just smash them up. No fussy garlic presses.So here is the recipe:4 cloves of fat juicy garlic (smashed up in their skins)1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh thyme leaves2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil.half a teaspoon of crushed dried chillies250g olives.The recipe says to use Black olives, but I often use green and it tastes just a delicious.Any way put the whole lot in a big bowl, mix them up and then store in a clean jar. Leave them for at least 48 hours before eating, ours keep going for ages and the longer you leave them eventually the red wine vinegar turns the garlic purple.After I had finished these I went on to bake literally acres of sausage rolls (another one of the signature dishes) over 50 of them.Apologies for the crappy picture but it is really quite late. If you look closely you can even see the empty beer bottles not yet cleared away. Yes, I really am a slattern.In my defence it's not just that I am very greedy, we are planning ahead for a Christmas for 10 for a week this year.I hope your preparations are all going swimmingly.Love Nora xxx

Friday, 13 December 2013

TENTATIVE BABY STEPS

OR I USED TO BE SOME ONEOR NICE TO GET BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN, BUT NOW I'M A BIT SORE.Once upon a time in the world of yarn, or to be more precise yarn bombing I used to be someone.Whilst browsing the web I came across an image of a lamppost wrapped in knitting.Something inside my head clicked in to place and I dashed off an email to several knitty friends and neighbours.And the rest as they say is history.We were fantastic, we were bold, we were daring, we were NinjasWe knitted a car.We made a film.We decorated a street for the royal wedding.We came out in support of local beleaguered businesses.We made a giant scarf for peace.We created Christmas trees for carollers.And we made a knitted and crochet fire instillation for Streatham Festival.Our numbers grew, many donned the uniform and turned out to lend a needle or hook.And then several things happened.One founding member and co driving force moved home to New Zealand.Another founding member found herself snowed under with work.While another ran away to the Southern Americas following a beautiful dream.Two other members found their love of yarn having been rekindled was making other demands upon them.And worse of all, well for me any way, I developed an industrial injury.Months and months of constant crochet in every spare moment resulted in a nasty and lingering case of tennis elbow. Its been over a year and no hooky action what so ever. I decided to take some tiny tentative baby steps.Christmas stars.I used this pattern from The Royal Sisters.It felt good to be crocheting again. But, yes there is a but, there have been worrying twinges in the elbow region.So teeny tiny these steps will have to be. May be they will go some where, may be they will go no where. Only time will tell.Love Nora xxx

Sunday, 8 December 2013

DISTRESSING TIMES

Remember this?Remember how it was too bright and lairy for me?Remember how I asked for your advice.Well, I went off and ignored pretty much all of it.All except that of Lazy Daisy Jones, who told me what I already knew, but somehow couldn't find the information in my brain.One big pot of grey dye and a happy hour spent with a nutmeg grater later and it is now more or less exactly as I imagined it in the beginning.

Though I may need to do a little more distressing to those still slightly too perky suffolk puffs. It may not be to every one's taste, but I feel much happier now.Love Nora xxxx

Saturday, 7 December 2013

On Thursday as I rushed along the wind swept path that leads from one of the classrooms where I teach to another something wrapped its self round my ankle.

I stooped and picked it up and was surprised to find well groomed men lifting another well groomed man on to a stretcher.

It was a little battered and a little tattered but I decided it must want to be my friend. Possibly a rather needy friend given the way it was clinging to me, but who am I to judge? It was very cold out. So I scooped my new paper friend up and stuffed him (with all those well dressed men how could he be a she?) in to my handbag.

Later as I was making a mad dash down the dual carriageway to the post office in my lunch hour I spotted something flapping at me from in and amongst the road side bushes.A relative of my college friend I thought.And I was right.

On the return journey from said post office I spied from the corner of my eye another papery something hanging about by the bottom of some chain link fencing. Oh Joy, a dashing young man with a poorly arm to add to the gaggle of new friends.

Who knows what these pages were doing spreading them selves so randomly over such a wide area.Who knows where the rest of their family were. I do hope they too all found new homes.Now I am wondering what the heck I am going to do with them. Several ideas are rattling about in the old noggin at the moment, but they will have to wait till next year. Time is ticking and there is much shopping and stitching to be done.Love Nora xxx

About Me

Nora has red hair and a big bum. She likes G&T, chocolate, cakes, clutter, aprons, Nana's, dancing badly and clapping out of time. Nora doesn't like sticky messes, and not being able to sing. She also regrets not being 6 foot tall or being able to do a piercing whistle. However Nora wants an end to poverty, hunger and suffering in the world brought about by the medium of sewing.